Beli,” he said, referring to the two newcomers, both farmers’ sons who had been added to their number following the abbot’s disastrous raid, “go with Scarlet. He’ll show you what to do. You’d better hurry. We don’t want the Ffreinc to see you.”
The four left on the run, and Bran and Owain took up an armful of bundled arrows and scrambled back up to the lookout post. “I see them!” said Tuck, pointing down the long incline. “That spot of red, there. It’s moving.”
“It’s one of the scouts,” Rhoddi told him. “They advance and fall back. They’re plenty wary.”
“They know we will attack,” said Bran. “Trying to tempt us into showing ourselves.”
“Brave men,” Tuck murmured to himself.
“Brave fools,” amended Owain.
“Is this the main body?” asked Bran.
“I made it three divisions,” Rhoddi replied, and explained how he had worked his way down to the bottom of the ridge to see what could be learned of the king’s army from that vantage. “Most are mounted, but there are a number on foot as well. And those I saw appeared but lightly armed.”
“They know they will not be facing knights on horseback,” surmised Bran, “so they need not overburden themselves or their animals.”
Tuck backed slowly down the rocks and into a little sunny patch nearby; hitching up his robe, he knelt in the long grass and, crossing his hands over his chest, he lifted his face to the clear blue sky above and began to pray, saying, “Commander of the Heavenly Host, You are no stranger to war and fighting. I know You’d rather have peace, and I’d have it, too, if it was left to me. But You know that sometimes that en’t possible, and if peace was in William’s mind I don’t reckon he’d be marching against us now. So, I’m asking You to think back to Your man, Moses, and how You supported him in all his wrangles with the Pharaoh-Who-Knew-Not-Joseph. Great of Might, I’m asking You to support Bran and his men today—and like You did with the Hebrew slaves when Pharaoh chased them out of Egypt, I’m asking You to drown the armies of the enemy in their own bloodlust. Last but not least, I’m asking You to ease the suffering of the wounded and, above all, to treat kindly the souls of those who will be coming to stand before You in a little while. Grant them eternal rest in Your wide kingdom for the sake of Your most Merciful Son, Our Lord Jesus.”
Tuck was roused from his prayers by the sound of a trumpet—small but bright as a needle point in the quiet forest. “Amen, so be it,” he whispered and, crossing himself, he picked up his staff and hauled himself back up the rocks to where Bran, Owain, and Rhoddi were waiting.
The trumpet sounded again: a single long, unwavering note.
“What is the meaning of that?” wondered Owain. “Vanity?”
“Maybe they think to frighten us,” suggested Tuck.
“Take more than a pip on the horn to send a shiver up my spine,” said Rhoddi. He nocked an arrow to the string, but Bran put a hand on his arm and pulled it down.
“They’re still trying to get us to show ourselves so they can mark our positions,” said Bran, “perhaps get some idea how large a force they will face. If they only knew how few . . .” He let the rest of the thought go.
The trumpet called once more, and this time the trumpeter himself rode into view. Behind him came two knights bearing banners: a blue square with three long tails of green and a cross of gold in the centre surrounded by small green crosslets. Behind them could be seen the first ranks of knights; some of these also carried banners of red and blue, some with yellow lions, some with crosses of white and red.
“Owain,” said Bran, “find yourself a good position somewhere just there”—he pointed a little farther along the rock wall—“and be ready to loose on my signal.” As the young warrior departed, Bran turned to the friar. “Tuck,” he said, placing a bundle of arrows upright at his feet, “I want you to see that we do not run out of arrows in this first skirmish. Keep us supplied and let us know how many we have left if supplies run low.”
“Good as done,” said Tuck. He scuttled back down the rocks and arranged the bundles in stacks of three which he then hauled up to a place just below